diff --git a/src/modules/mavlink/mavlink_messages.cpp b/src/modules/mavlink/mavlink_messages.cpp
index 9bd9d923d9..e09f39780d 100644
--- a/src/modules/mavlink/mavlink_messages.cpp
+++ b/src/modules/mavlink/mavlink_messages.cpp
@@ -374,6 +374,7 @@ private:
 
 	unsigned write_err_count = 0;
 	static const unsigned write_err_threshold = 5;
+	FILE *fp = nullptr;
 
 protected:
 	explicit MavlinkStreamStatustext(Mavlink *mavlink) : MavlinkStream(mavlink),
@@ -392,55 +393,52 @@ protected:
 			strncpy(msg.text, (const char*)mavlink_log.text, sizeof(msg.text));
 
 			_mavlink->send_message(MAVLINK_MSG_ID_STATUSTEXT, &msg);
-		}
 
-		// TODO: add this again
-#if 0
-		/* write log messages in first instance to disk */
-		if (_mavlink->get_instance_id() == 0) {
-			if (fp) {
-				if (EOF == fputs(msg.text, fp)) {
-					write_err_count++;
-				} else {
-					write_err_count = 0;
-				}
+			/* write log messages in first instance to disk */
+			if (_mavlink->get_instance_id() == 0) {
+				if (fp) {
+					if (EOF == fputs(msg.text, fp)) {
+						write_err_count++;
+					} else {
+						write_err_count = 0;
+					}
 
-				if (write_err_count >= write_err_threshold) {
-					(void)fclose(fp);
-					fp = nullptr;
-				} else {
-					(void)fputs("\n", fp);
-					(void)fsync(fileno(fp));
-				}
+					if (write_err_count >= write_err_threshold) {
+						(void)fclose(fp);
+						fp = nullptr;
+					} else {
+						(void)fputs("\n", fp);
+						(void)fsync(fileno(fp));
+					}
 
-			} else if (write_err_count < write_err_threshold) {
-				/* string to hold the path to the log */
-				char log_file_name[32] = "";
-				char log_file_path[70] = "";
+				} else if (write_err_count < write_err_threshold) {
+					/* string to hold the path to the log */
+					char log_file_name[32] = "";
+					char log_file_path[70] = "";
 
-				timespec ts;
-				px4_clock_gettime(CLOCK_REALTIME, &ts);
-				/* use GPS time for log file naming, e.g. /fs/microsd/2014-01-19/19_37_52.bin */
-				time_t gps_time_sec = ts.tv_sec + (ts.tv_nsec / 1e9);
-				struct tm tt;
-				gmtime_r(&gps_time_sec, &tt);
+					timespec ts;
+					px4_clock_gettime(CLOCK_REALTIME, &ts);
+					/* use GPS time for log file naming, e.g. /fs/microsd/2014-01-19/19_37_52.bin */
+					time_t gps_time_sec = ts.tv_sec + (ts.tv_nsec / 1e9);
+					struct tm tt;
+					gmtime_r(&gps_time_sec, &tt);
 
-				// XXX we do not want to interfere here with the SD log app
-				strftime(log_file_name, sizeof(log_file_name), "msgs_%Y_%m_%d_%H_%M_%S.txt", &tt);
-				snprintf(log_file_path, sizeof(log_file_path), PX4_ROOTFSDIR"/fs/microsd/%s", log_file_name);
-				fp = fopen(log_file_path, "ab");
+					// XXX we do not want to interfere here with the SD log app
+					strftime(log_file_name, sizeof(log_file_name), "msgs_%Y_%m_%d_%H_%M_%S.txt", &tt);
+					snprintf(log_file_path, sizeof(log_file_path), PX4_ROOTFSDIR"/fs/microsd/%s", log_file_name);
+					fp = fopen(log_file_path, "ab");
 
-				if (fp != NULL) {
-					/* write first message */
-					fputs(msg.text, fp);
-					fputs("\n", fp);
-				}
-				else {
-					warn("Failed to open %s errno=%d", log_file_path, errno);
+					if (fp != NULL) {
+						/* write first message */
+						fputs(msg.text, fp);
+						fputs("\n", fp);
+					}
+					else {
+						warn("Failed to open %s errno=%d", log_file_path, errno);
+					}
 				}
 			}
 		}
-#endif
 	}
 };